'Bringing Out the Dead' Brings Out the Worst in
Scorsese

By

Joe Morgenstern

Updated Oct. 22, 1999 11:59 p.m. ET

A ll's wrong with the world in "Bringing Out the Dead," which brings Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader back to the streets of New York a quarter-century after their historic collaboration as the director and writer of "Taxi Driver." This time their hero is a soul-sick paramedic, Frank Pierce, who's played by Nicolas Cage. Frank drives by night, when the city's suffering is most intense. He has come to believe that his job is less about saving lives than simply bearing witness; he feels like a "grief mop." (Mr. Schrader's screenplay is based on the novel by Joe Connelly.) After bearing...